Feral At Heart

09/11/2024

Our local animal control is at Critical Cat Capacity once more, which is a scary place to be.

You can directly help this situation by fostering or adopting so we can create more space for cats in need.

Please fill out our foster application here if you’d like to become a foster and send us a message if you’re ready to bring in some fosters!
👇🏽👇🏽

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1AXMAdgM_J5ciMxypDkzXwbgzEy2kG83V--yI6l2wNLg/edit

Also, we have wayyyy too many cats that have been waiting for homes since May and June which hinders our ability to bring in more.

Please check out our adoptable cat photo album or the post pinned at the top of our page to see who’s been waiting for homes.
👇🏽👇🏽

https://www.facebook.com/share/15917VR1Ck/?mibextid=WC7FNe

Cat Capacity Alert! Animal Services is at capacity for cats! What does that mean? As of 1:30pm today 17% of the cats in our care have already gone through the stray hold period and are available to be transferred to a rescue partner.

We need your help:
- If you are an approved rescue partner with us, consider transferring some of our available cats
-If you are missing a cat, please look here every day, multiple times per day. You can look online https://www.helpingpets.home.com/ for a missing animal or physically come to our facility.
-If you have found a cat, please understand that in Washoe County, cats are free-roaming animals and are not required to be contained. If they are not injured, sick, or in danger, leave them be!
-Adopt/Foster from a shelter (Nevada Humane Society, SPCA of Northern NV, Pet Network) or a rescue group (Feral at Heart, Community Cats, Options Veterinary Care and many others).
-Please do not trap cats to bring to the shelter during this time
Thank you for your patience and support.

08/11/2024

We want to share what we have been dealing with this week which entails a heartbreaking story about a cat who has been through so much, all due to circumstances beyond his control.

Last week, we brought in a cat for TNR after being told by the caretaker that he WASNT friendly and wouldn't be a candidate for adoption.
Unfortunately, less than a week later we learned that this information was untrue when the cat tragically ended up getting ran over by the caretaker’s car.

For two long, agonizing days for both the cat and ourselves, we were unable to catch him.

Finally , on Wednesday morning, the caregiver caught him while doing his daily feedings, and we picked up the cat and rushed him into Options Veterinary Care where they discovered a serious injury-
a broken leg.

Options Vet graciously held him overnight, even though they typically don't keep cats overnight, to minimize stress and ensure he was stable.

First thing yesterday morning he underwent surgery to amputate his injured leg.

The vet bills are already piling up:
Wednesday’s X-rays: $89.78
Yesterday’s leg amputation: $484.25

That's a total of $574.03 for his care, and that's not including any follow-up treatments or recovery expenses.
In addition, this week we spent $168 on TNR for other cats in the community.

We are committed to giving him the best care possible including finding him a forever home following recovery.

If you can, please consider donating towards his past and future medical bills it would be tremendously appreciated.
We only receive funding via donations from the community.

Thank you for being part of his journey.
➡️PayPal/venmo: feralatheart

—————

With this situation,
It’s on our hearts to share our first hand observation with many community cat caretakers.

Caregivers form deep emotional bonds with the cats they care for, often prioritizing these relationships over the animals' overall wellbeing and safety.

This attachment can lead to decisions that keep cats on the streets when they are eligible for homes, despite the dangers they face daily—such as traffic, disease, injuries, and predation.

While it may feel like a form of loyalty to let a cat stay in its familiar environment, the harsh reality is that cats are much safer when they are brought off the streets.

By providing shelter, food, medical care, and a loving home for any applicable cats, we give them a chance to live without the constant threat of agonizing injuries and illnesses that are left untreated while living on the streets.

Ultimately, offering a safe, stable life away from the perils of street life is a far greater act of compassion than allowing a cat to struggle for survival day after day.

This is why we take pride in not only our huge impact in Trap-Neuter-Return within our community, but equally rescuing over 100 feral kittens and friendly cats from the streets each year and placing them into safe, loving homes.

04/11/2024

TNR is the humane solution to cat overpopulation.
Support TNR for the cats sake!

03/11/2024

Oh my,
what a pink little nose underneath all that gunk!

02/11/2024

01/11/2024

Handsome Panther enjoying some snuggle time with his foster mom, still waiting for a home.

He is initially shy and needs a home that will allow him patience to warm up, but once he is comfortable, he is playful, snuggly, and needs the company of another cat.

Please apply here if interested:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/162tk9DC7dX7-MzQPlk4hjOrWvYPipKNbMNaVrjQGihQ/edit

01/11/2024

🎃Happy Meow-lloween! 🎃
Who else’s cats are dressed up tonight?!

31/10/2024

Great info by Community Cats, who is Reno’s only other TNR organization.

If you don’t follow their page, please follow now!
Tracy is THE trap Queen in Reno and can help provide resources for TNR when we are unable to.

We often don’t see the faces of a cat colony as they largely stay out of sight. This group of 12 cats has been spayed/neutered, vaccinated and ear tipped. It took about 6 weeks to get them all to the clinic.

“Community cats produce around 80% of the kittens born in the U.S. each year. Without adequate spay/neuter programs (including TNR) more cats will enter animal shelters, feline euthanasia rates will increase (including for adoptable cats when cage space runs out or because the cats get sick due to overcrowding) and donor and taxpayer dollars will be squandered on ineffective solutions.”
https://www.humanesociety.org/resources/outdoor-cats-faq

We have a vet shortage and currently only 2 locations in Reno perform high quality high volume spay/neuter. They are Options Veterinary Care and Nevada Humane Society.

We need more of these services to have a quantitative impact on and effectively manage our community cat population.

TNR Trap-Neuter-Return is a 3-day process not including preparation time beforehand. Everyone who participates in the program is a VOLUNTEER. Trap time can range from a few minutes to several hours. The cat is held overnight and taken to the clinic the following morning and picked up in the afternoon. It is held overnight again for recovery from anesthesia and released the following morning at the location it was trapped.

📞 775-360-8053
http://www.communitycatsofreno.org

Washoe County Regional Animal Services
SPCA of Northern Nevada
Feral At Heart
Kitty Kisses Cat Café & Rescue
Scaredy Cats TNR
FAWG Fallon Animal Welfare Group
Argonn (Animal Rescue Group of Northern Nevada) Group

31/10/2024

Thank you all for your generous donations toward our new TNR project for another large cat colony.
We feel incredibly grateful to have such a caring community standing with us in our mission.

Today, we were able to fix 4 more cats, bringing our total to 9 cats over the last two weeks, at a cost of $315.

Thank you for your continued support as we work toward a healthier future for these cats!
❤️😽

30/10/2024

A few winners from our weekend auction still haven’t responded to Dana to arrange payment and pick-up.

Please reach out by tomorrow, or we’ll move on to the next highest bidder.

@topfans

29/10/2024

Tonight’s trapping night,
you know what that means…

29/10/2024

🐾 Tonight’s the night!
𝐉𝐨𝐢𝐧 𝐮𝐬 𝐚𝐭 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐞'𝐬 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐅𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐥 𝐀𝐭 𝐇𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐭 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐛𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐚𝐭 𝐃𝐚𝐲! 🐾

📅 Date: October 29, 2024
🕔 Time: 5:00 PM - 11:00 PM
📍 Location: 2175 N. Virginia St., Reno, NV

Just mention Feral At Heart at the register, and Cane’s will donate 15% of net sales to support our furry friends! (In-store purchases only.)

And hey, we all know cats love chicken too! 🍗 Come out, grab some dinner, and help us make a difference for local cats in need!

Thank you for helping us make a difference.
🐱❤️

29/10/2024

received our new trio of rescues this afternoon . Two long haired Siamese and one long haired ginger. Thank you to our fosters who stepped in to offer them a safe place to stay while we work on socializing and treating for mild ringworm. 🐾❤️

28/10/2024

Guess who spent the afternoon at the vet today?!

None other but the most perfect boy in the world, Mr. Tatum.

He had an embedded foxtail in Hims little footsie

AND

we requested X-rays to inspect two suspicious scars on each of the inside of his legs.

Turns out our boy has metal plates in each of his hind legs!
😱

Our vet bill today was over $500 which is why we need your support in our auction!
Bidding ends in 25 minutes!
❤️🐾